With more than 32 million Americans lacking a cancer specialist nearby, Community Oncology Partners (COP) announced in a press release their commitment to ensuring that cancer patients, no matter their location, receive timely, high-quality and affordable care closer to home. To this end, COP unveiled its plan to develop, own and operate more than 300 de novo medical oncology and specialty infusion clinics across the U.S.
How the COP Model Works
Rather than an acquisition platform aiming to acquire existing practices, COP functions as a growth platform that assists clinicians in expanding their clinical operations. COP carefully selects financial partners who have a long-term outlook that aligns with managements’ goals to build and operate 300+ sites and meet the long-term need. COP helps providers grow in an operationally efficient manner that drives growth and improves the patient experience. COP strives for clinical excellence led by physician partners and operational excellence delivered by their experienced team of operators. COP brings extensive experience and resources to their partner providers:
- Leadership.
- Enterprise management.
- Compliance.
- Quality and safety.
- Practice management.
- Financial.
- Administrative.
- Business services (human resources and recruiting, information technology, marketing, succession and growth planning).
COP functions as an operational and development partner. It partners in securing land, permitting and construction, USP 800 compliance and recruiting/training to develop and operate multiple de novo sites to meet the oncology demand in the locations it serves.
“We are excited to unveil our plans to bring the fight against cancer closer to home,” said David Weissberg, president of Community Oncology Partners. “The COP model is a win-win-win for everyone. It’s a win for patients who will receive care close to home, helping to improve cancer outcomes. It’s a win for providers as we provide long-term incentives for them to work in and care for underserved communities. It’s a win for the community and local hospitals as we expand and support their current care initiatives, helping drive healthcare costs down. It’s also a win for new drug development and clinical trials due to our diverse patient population.”
How COP Serves Communities, Patients, Providers and Staff
Care Centers
COP is in the planning and development stage of designing state-of-the-art care centers that support patient outcomes and experience, improve physician recruitment and retention, improve staff retention and ensure that sites are a fixture of the communities they serve. Each site will offer oncology evaluation and management, specialty pharmacy infusion, a medically integrated dispensary, an oral pharmacy, lab services (including STAT CBC) and other ancillary services to medical oncology.
Patients
COP is designing and building its sites to promote patient well-being by providing amenities and improving patient flow.
Providers
COP will include amenities at each site to help reduce burnout, including secure and private rest areas and on-site gyms for all staff members to promote an active lifestyle.
Staff
COP plans to promote staff engagement and will continue to look for additional ways to make their jobs more efficient as they provide excellent patient service to community members.
Community
COP puts the “unity” in “community,” transforming communities by partnering with providers, community leaders and neighborhoods to not only provide the best-in-class cancer care locally but also build city parks, offer transportation programs, assist in developing community growth and bring people together.
“We are excited to contribute to the fight against cancer,” said Nathan Ure, COO, COP. “There is a legacy of excellence in the medical oncology community. We will extend that even further to underserved and marginalized communities, with the same gold standard in outcomes and experiences. We believe the way individuals, groups and communities are offered support to treat cancer is a critical indicator of decency and fairness. With this new platform, we believe that many, many more people can contribute to helping individuals from the moment of diagnosis through treatment right where they live. We are there for them through their entire cancer journey.”
How COP Will Achieve Its Goals
COP will not only build facilities in underserved populations but also help increase the number of medical oncologists serving these communities through the following methods:
- Partnering with accredited fellowship programs.
- Expanding these programs’ fellowship training capacity (at COP’s expense).
- Opening new clinics with an expanded pipeline of competent providers.
- Retaining its physician partners by providing more ownership in COP over time.
COP recruits doctors, nurses and staff and provides them with a comprehensive platform that includes referral networks, makes appointments and leverages technology, allowing them to better serve their communities. COP also strives to be at the forefront of innovation, research and compassionate treatment, ensuring that rural and underserved community members receive the highest quality of care in their fight against cancer.
For more information, let’s talk.
About Community Oncology Partners
Community Oncology Partners is a growth platform with the singular focus of developing and operating oncology clinics with best-in-class care. Our mission is to ensure access to state-of-the-art, high-quality and affordable cancer care in a community-based setting. We strive to offer value to patients and payers alike while delivering integrated care via the Oncology Medical Home model. Our vision is to continuously advance cancer care, setting the gold standard in innovation, research and compassionate treatment.